Clarke to coach Ulster forwards

Former Ulster and Ireland hooker, Allen Clarke, has been confirmed as the provinceÂ¿s new forwards coach for the 2014/15 season.â€¨â€¨

Former Ulster and Ireland hooker, Allen Clarke, has been confirmed as the province's new forwards coach for the 2014/15 season.â€¨â€¨

Clarke has been successful as both a player and a coach. He won eight international caps and was a key member of the Ulster team that won the European Cup in 1999. â€¨â€¨

Following his retirement from playing due to injury he moved into coaching and established the Ulster Rugby Academy.

He was appointed assistant coach to Mark McCall and helped guide Ulster to the Pro12 title in 2006.â€¨â€¨

The following season he left Ulster to take up a position as High Performance Manager with the IRFU and was responsible for helping to build Irish Rugby's age grade structure and developing young players, many of whom have gone on to become Ireland internationals.â€¨â€¨

Following a successful five years, Clarke returned to his native province in 2012 as Elite Performance Manager.

He has further developed the Academy and has expanded the scale and scope of the province's age grade programme.

â€¨â€¨Clarke, who is renowned for his work rate, his attention to detail and his knowledge of forward play, has also coached at international level - coaching Ireland A and more recently the Emerging Ireland team in 2013 IRB Tbilisi Cup. â€¨â€¨

He will continue to oversee the Elite Performance Pathway and Hughes Insurance Ulster Academy in his new role.â€¨â€¨

â€¨â€¨"I'm immensely passionate and proud to be involved with my home province once again, and look forward to supporting the coaching team and players to be the best we can be," said Clarke.

"The player movement in the pack has been well documented, however, the players that we have brought in together with those already here have shown a real focus in training and respect for work.

"Continuing strategic support in Ulster's Elite Performance Pathway is important and I know that the progress made over the past two years will continue to grow under the guidance and expertise of our Academy coaching team - Kieran Campbell, Brian McLaughlin, James Topping, Michael Black, David Drake, Matt Maguire, Amy Davis, Matthew Godfrey and David Minion."